


A Splash of Color

by vakarian_shepard



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Alistair's rose, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, I smooshed the rose and first kiss dialogue together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-09 00:01:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8868283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vakarian_shepard/pseuds/vakarian_shepard
Summary: “You realize picking it basically killed it anyway?”
He was frowning when she looked up at him. “Well, yes, I—that wasn’t the point. I just—I thought I might give it to you, seeing as, in a lot of ways, I think the same thing when I look at you.”
…Oh.





	

“Sura— _Nadia_ ,” Alistair’s voice broke through her concentration, and the little flame creature she’d been making dance over her palm dissipated with a puff of smoke. When she looked up at him, he was fidgeting, standing with his arms behind his back almost like he was hiding something. Clearing his throat and trying to smile, he asked, “Have you got a minute?”

Nadia stood, brushing off imaginary dirt from her pants and taking a deep breath. “Sure. What’s going on?”

“Um. Would you mind coming with me for a bit?”

She frowned, narrowing her eyes. “…Why?”

“I…uh…need your help with something.”

“Is it magic related?”

“…Sure.”

They stared at each other for a moment, as she tried to put the puzzle pieces together, watching him mentally plead with her to get what he was insinuating, until it dawned on her that he wanted to talk. 

_Alone_.

Despite the anxiety bubbling up in her chest, she tried her best to smile as she nodded hesitantly. “Yeah, alright.”

She met Kira’s eyes as she passed her by, frowning at the way she, Leliana, and Zevran all appeared to be almost smirking at her where they sat next to each other by the fire. Kira gave her an encouraging smile and Leliana shot her a thumbs up, just as Zevran winked, bringing a furious blush to Nadia’s cheeks that had her glaring and turning away, steadfastly avoiding looking at _anything_ that could possibly tease her as she and Alistair walked off into the surrounding forest together.

It was just now sundown, the world around them almost ablaze with warm, golden light. Her breath caught a little at the sight of it—she’d been out of the Tower for months now, but somehow the sunrise and sunset still caught her off guard with just how beautiful it was. Tugging her sleeves down further over her hands as a chilly breeze danced through the trees, she smiled a little. The life of a Warden was a tough one, and there was danger around every corner, but at least she was mostly free. At least she could see the sunset or sunrise whenever she wanted, however she wanted.

Alistair slowed to a stop when they found a little stream, the quiet babbling of the brook apparently giving him more confidence than total silence would have. He smiled, and offered her whatever he was hiding behind his back.

“Here, look at this. Do you know what this is?” he asked softly, offering her a single red rose.

Fiddling with the ends of her sleeves, she giggled and asked wryly, “Is it your new weapon of choice?”

“Yes,” he said immediately, sarcasm bleeding into his voice that made her grin. “Yes, that’s right! Watch as I thrash our enemies with the mighty power of floral arrangements! Feel my thorns, darkspawn! Rah! I will overpower you with my rosy scent!”

Nadia was full out laughing now, and he smiled at the sound, even as he continued in a softer voice. “Or it could just be a rose. I know that’s a bit boring, but…”

Feeling a lot more comfortable, Nadia took a step closer and tilted her head at him. He’d had that rose for ages now—the poor thing was missing petals, as often as he’d been bothering it. “You’ve been thumbing that flower for a while now.”

“I picked it in Lothering,” he said, nodding. “I remember thinking, ‘How could something so beautiful exist in a place with so much despair and ugliness?’” 

Nadia reached out and took it from him, careful of the thorns, tracing a delicate finger over one of the deep red petals as he continued, “I…probably should have left it alone, but I couldn’t. The darkspawn would come and their taint would just destroy it. So I’ve had it ever since.”

Carefully, she let a wave of healing magic run from her fingers into the flower, watching the wilting petals perk right back up. “You realize picking it basically killed it anyway?”

He was frowning when she looked up at him. “Well, yes, I—that wasn’t the point. I just—I thought I might give it to you, seeing as, in a lot of ways, I think the same thing when I look at you.”

_…Oh._

_That_ wasn’t what she was expecting. At all. 

Tense and still, she opened her mouth hesitantly, mumbling, “Oh, I…don’t know what to say.”

He huffed out a bitter laugh, like he’d expected that answer. He looked away at the brook, giving Nadia a chance to really look at him without feeling uncomfortable. He really was a handsome man, she thought as her eyes followed the sharp lines of his profile. Handsome and so much nicer than any other human man she’d known.

“I guess it’s a bit silly, isn’t it?” he asked after a beat, turning back to her. “I just thought…here I am doing all this _complaining_ , and you haven’t exactly been having a good time of it yourself. You’ve had none of the _good_ experience of being a Grey Warden since your Joining, not a word of thanks or congratulations. It’s all been death and fighting and tragedy.”

He ran a hand through his hair as he sighed and added, “And I thought, maybe I could say something. Tell you what a rare and wonderful thing you are to find amidst all this…darkness.”

Nadia’s _entire_ face felt hot, and warmth blossomed in her stomach as she looked up at him, the flower in her hands feeling suddenly a lot more important. That was—no one had ever talked about her like that before, at least not anywhere she could hear. (Cullen might have—but she didn’t want to think about him and his little obsession.)

She didn’t realize she was smiling until she noticed her cheeks were hurting a little, and she coughed, dropping her gaze back to the petals of the rose. “That’s so…you know, I feel the same way about you.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I haven’t, historically, had very good interactions with human men, and especially not with _Templars_ —and, yes, I know you never finished your training, but still. You make me laugh and I feel _safe_ with you, which isn’t really something I’m used to.” She brought the rose up to her lips, hiding her grin. “I don’t really have anything to give you, but…you deserve to know.”

Alistair’s smile lit up his face, and Nadia’s heart pumped a little harder in her chest at the sight.

“That—I— _ahem_ ,” he coughed, face flushed. “I…was wondering about something else, actually, before we go back to camp.”

Nadia hummed, shifting her weight and fiddling with the flower in her hands. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, I was just thinking, all this time we’ve spent together—you know: the tragedy, the brushes with death, the constant battles with the whole Blight looming over us…will you miss it, once it’s over?”

Nadia tilted her head, confused. “I—there will always be more battles to fight, won’t there? Part of signing up to be a Warden is signing up to fight darkspawn until the end of time, right? Assuming that we don’t, you know, die a horrible, violent death any time soon?”

He just looked sad at that thought. “Well, yes, but that…doesn’t mean we would necessarily be fighting them…together. Look, I know it…might sound strange, considering we haven’t known each other for very long, but I’ve come to… _care_ for you. A great deal. I think, maybe, it’s because we’ve gone through so much together, I don’t know,” he rambled, mumbling the last bit as he looked away from her eyes. “Or, maybe I’m imagining it. Maybe I’m fooling myself.”

There was a pause, and then he brought his gaze back to hers, smiling a little tensely, like he didn’t know what else to do with his face. “Am I? Fooling myself? Or do you think that you might ever…feel the same way about me?” he asked, touching a hand to his chest.

… _What_?

Wasn’t this a little fast? Or—well, not that she had any experience. The flower was nice, and the words were sweet, but shouldn’t there be more space between ‘ _I think you’re great_ ’ and ‘ _I might be falling for you_ ’?

Panicking, she stammered, “I—I mean, I don’t know, maybe? It’s a little early to tell, isn’t it?”

His face fell and her stomach dropped. “Ah, I see. Right, don’t mind me then. I thought you might be interested, but that’s fine. No—No hard feelings. I’ll just be going. Keep the flower.”

Well, that wasn’t what she wanted either, she thought as she watched him turn to leave. She _had_ been flirting with him, hadn’t she? Really hard, too, but she’d never thought that _he’d_ ever actually…

“Alistair, wait,” she called, jogging to catch up with him. Maker, he had long legs. “Can I just—try something, really fast?”

He looked suspicious. “Try what?” he asked warily.

Unable to say it out loud, voice caught in her throat, she simply braced herself and reached up to grab onto the front of his shirt, rising up on her toes as much as she could as she pulled him down to her. 

His beard tickled a little, was the first thing she noticed as her lips touched his. The second thing she noticed was the sharp intake of breath he took, and then that his lips were just a little chapped. It was a chaste thing, as she didn’t want to frighten him—just the soft press of her lips against his. She almost felt, as night began to settle around them, as though one of the Templars were about to burst out from behind the trees and yell at them or something.

But that never came and after another second, Nadia’s feet began to protest the height that she’d pushed them to, and she broke the kiss, dropping heavily back down to the flats of her feet, releasing her fistfuls of his shirt as she went. Her heart was beating extra loudly in her ears as she looked up at him, taking in the almost awestruck look on his face as her lips tingled pleasantly. 

Oh.

“Could…we try that again?” he asked softly, voice just the tiniest bit hoarse.

It was easier this time, as he leaned down to her of his own accord, grinning into her mouth as her arms came up around his shoulders, and his came to rest around her waist. It surprised her, just a little, when he tilted his head and tentatively deepened the kiss, but she liked it, doing her best to mimic his actions and kiss him back. Bold though she’d been, she still didn’t exactly have, well, _any_ experience with stuff like this. Jowan had kissed her once, when they were about thirteen, but that had just been weird and they’d both agreed to never do that again.

_This_ was so much better than anything she could have hoped for.

It was completely dark when they finally pulled away, and even as she grinned at him, he still seemed a little uncomfortable. 

“That—was that okay?” he asked.

She giggled. “I liked it. I think I might need some more testing, though, before I have a definite answer.”

He smirked, laughing. “Well, I’ll have to arrange that then, won’t I?” Then, pausing, his face softened and he breathed, “ _Maker’s breath_ , but you’re beautiful. I am a lucky man.”

She laughed nervously, clutching her flower and pushing him lightly. “ _Sweet talker_ ,” she laughed, and he laughed with her.

And, later that night, within the safety of her tent, Nadia enchanted Alistair’s rose, so that it would forever bloom, as vibrant and wonderful as he himself was.

**Author's Note:**

> wow something that isn't focused around my cousland and zevran who knew i could do that


End file.
